Love of Kill

Episode 6

Right off the bat, the most interesting parts of this episode are found at the very beginning and the very end: another cryptic flashback about who Ryang-ha really is, and a new major inciting incident in the present. I was expecting this episode to be an extended payoff to all the buildup of the previous episode, but instead we get a lot of the same old, same old: Ryang-ha taking control of whatever situation he is in and trying to get progressively closer to Château.

On the bright side, it feels like this episode highlights how frustrating it is when he's dictating everyone else's actions for too long a period of time. I don't think Ryang-ha is supposed to come off as likable in any way, and I'm curious where the show is going with all the obvious implied history with him regarding past events. I also hope that the payoff justifies some of the actions that he takes in his attempt to get close to Château because I wonder if it's worth all of the mental and emotional stress for her. I'm going to give the show the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's actually not trying to frame any quiet moments between these two as heartfelt in any way because… they aren't. When he's looking at Château's sleeping face, I really don't feel any sense of tenderness or understanding; it's just uncomfortable.

Maybe this is a consequence of dragging the underlying mystery out for so long; aside from those dedicated flashbacks, all we really have to go on are small inferences into what actually happened. At the very least, it seems like something that Ryang-ha is going out of his way to preserve, because the look on his face when Château's boss pretty much hones in on him being connected to her past was the highlight of the episode. It's nice seeing the guy's armor crack a little bit and get glimpses into that sense of desperation; even if we still don't have the actual details, I'm enjoying the different array of emotional reactions we get to what exactly he's trying to protect.

I do feel bad for Château's boss at the end—it really does feel like he is collateral damage, and I wasn't expecting the show to kill him off halfway through the show when he's so prominently featured with everybody else. It would've been nice to see his character fleshed out a bit more, especially his relationship with Chateau. At the same time, it's pretty obvious who the culprit actually is considering how fatal the wound looked, so I don't know why the show is even bothering to frame it like it's Ryang-ha's doing. But who knows, maybe I'm in for a surprise next week.

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Love of Kill is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.